Reunion (1999–present)

In February 1999, Bayley left the band by mutual consent. At the same time, the band shocked their fans when they announced that both Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith were rejoining the band, and that Janick Gers would remain. Iron Maiden now had three guitarists and a successful reunion tour followed. This tour also supported the band's newly released computer game Ed Hunter.

Brave New World
Iron Maiden's first studio work after the reunion with Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith came in the form of 2000's Brave New World. The album was met with much critical acclaim. Thematic influences continued with "The Wicker Man" - based on the 1973 British cult film of the same name, and "Brave New World" - based on the novel of the same name.
The world tour that followed consisted of well over 100 dates, and culminated on 19 January 2001 with a show at the Rock in Rio festival in Brazil, where Iron Maiden played to a crowd of 250,000. This performance was recorded and subsequently released on CD and DVD in March 2002 under the name Rock in Rio.

Dance of Death
In 2003, Iron Maiden released Dance of Death. As usual, historical and literary influences continued - "Montsegur" in particular being about the Cathar stronghold conquered in 1244 and Paschendale relating to a significant battle during World War I.
Their performance at Westfalenhalle stadium in Germany, as part of the supporting tour, was recorded and released in August 2005 as a live album and DVD, entitled Death on the Road.
In 2005, the band announced a tour to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the release of their first album, Iron Maiden, and the 30th anniversary of their formation. The tour also was in support of the 2004 DVD entitled The Early Days and as such during the tour they only played material from their first four albums. As part of the celebration of their early days, the "Number of the Beast" single was re-released, which went straight to number 3 in the UK Singles Chart.
At Iron Maiden's last Ozzfest performance (August 20, 2005 at the Hyundai Pavilion at Glen Helen in San Bernardino, CA), Sharon Osbourne interrupted their performance by turning off the PA system and chanting.
The band completed this tour by headlining the Reading and Leeds weekend festivals on the 26th and 28th August 2005. For the second time, the band played a charity show for former drummer Clive Burr's Clive Burr MS Trust Fund charity.

A Matter of Life and Death

A Matter of Life and Death album cover
In November 2006, Iron Maiden and manager Rod Smallwood announced that they were cutting off their 27 year old ties with Sanctuary Music and have started a new company named Phantom Music Management.
In Autumn 2006 Iron Maiden released A Matter of Life and Death. While the album is not a concept album, war and religion are recurring themes in the lyrics throughout, as well as in the album's artwork.
A successful North American and European tour followed, during which they played the album in its entirety, a first for the band. The band have announced that a live album recorded from this tour will be released.[citation needed]
In 2007, the band confirmed several major festival appearances across the world for the year to form the second leg of the A Matter of Life and Death tour. These include performances at the Dubai Desert Rock Festival, Eddfest, Download Festival, Heineken Jammin Festival, Fields Of Rock Festival, Graspop Metal Meeting and Bilbao BBK Live Festival.[32] They have also scheduled concerts in countries such as India, Greece, Serbia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Germany. The main leg of the tour has been renamed "The Matter of the Beast", to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Number of the Beast album. The band will play 5 songs from A Matter of Life and Death and 5 from The Number of the Beast as part of their live set for the tour. On the 24th of May they announced that as a grand finale to their festival/stadium summer tour, they will perform a special one-off performance at London's Brixton Academy on Sunday 24th June in aid of The Clive Burr MS Trust fund, the support for this performance is once again Steve's daughter Lauren Harris and an eight piece Indian Rock act called Parikrama, who came to the band's attention when they supported Maiden in Bangalore in March, and will be the first time an Indian rock band have toured the UK.